The coming war on women breadwinners?

Matt K. Lewis

Matt K. Lewis is a senior contributor to The Daily Caller, and a contributing editor for The Week. He is a respected commentator on politics and cultural issues, and has been cited by major publications such as The Washington Post and The New York Times. Matt is from Myersville, MD and currently resides in Alexandria, VA. Follow Matt K. Lewis on Twitter <a>@mattklewis</a>.

A recent Pew Research Center report on the increasing number of women who serve as their family’s primary breadwinner has sparked some debate and controversy, and I suspect it could be yet another cudgel to bash conservatives.

I’ve written a lot about the cultural upheaval, including the provocatively-titled post: “The silent war on non-college educated white men.” This is all to say that I’m sympathetic to the notion that culture matters — that a lot of men are being left behind and are therefore struggling to find an identity — and that this has negative consequences for everybody.

But I do want to caution my conservative friends here. This is an inherently divisive message fraught with political danger and easy to demagogue.

What is more, while this may or may not be a symptom of a larger cultural shift, it is still far from the root of the problems our society faces. Conservatives ought to decry the breakup of the family unit, the number of abortions in this nation, and the fact that popular culture often portrays dad as a dope.